Wednesday, February 20, 2008
You lose:
Juan Cole rips John McCain a new one over McCain's Pakistan comments last night. As the kids say, read the whole thing. But, really, let's get into this:
[W]ill we risk the confused leadership of an inexperienced candidate who once suggested invading our ally, Pakistan, and sitting down without pre-conditions or clear purpose with enemies who support terrorists and are intent on destabilizing the world by acquiring nuclear weapons?
Obama said that if he had actionable intelligence about the whereabouts of al-Qaeda's senior leadership, who are in the tribal areas of Pakistan, he's wiping them off the face of the earth. Good to know that John McCain, who allegedly knows something about defending America in the course of advocating a war that has made America drastically less secure, would do absolutely nothing. Good to know that John McCain doesn't care that those people murdered 3,000 Americans. Good to know that John McCain doesn't think those souls demand justice. Good to know that John McCain would read an intelligence report about al-Qaeda in Pakistan planning to murder more Americans and say LOL HAI LOOK IRAN KTHXBAI.

Good to know that John McCain thinks Pervez Musharraf is a valuable ally. Good to know John McCain believes that the Pakistani security apparatus is best used when it neglects al-Qaeda, when it neglects to protect opposition candidates, and when it serves as the personal guard of Pervez Musharraf. Good to know that John McCain doesn't believe in results, he believes in satisfying a conventional wisdom that would run America into the abyss and lose the war against al-Qaeda. Good to know that the media won't treat what John McCain said for what it is: a statement of purest surrender against the people that killed 3,000 Americans and will kill many, many more if John McCain is president.

Update: Not everyone's ignoring it. Joe Klein takes McCain to task on Swampland.
--Spencer Ackerman
I'm guessing you already saw it, but there was an article in the Washington Post detailing how we're already involved in military operations in Pakistan to target senior Al Qaeda operatives largely without the consent of the Pakistani government. McCain didn't mention it in his speech but my guess is the sort of operation they described will become more common as Musharraf continues to retrench. Here's the article...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/18/AR2008021802500_pf.html
Blogger Unknown | 7:53 AM